A decades-long partnership and a willingness to leave no stone unturned for customers has resulted in a world first machinery application at a New South Wales landfill.
For the past 18 months, one of New South Wales’ premier resource recovery centres has been putting a unique piece of Caterpillar® equipment through its paces.
The Cat® G345 Sorting Grapple is an attachment used to help move, pick up and sort materials. In a bid to solve one customer’s challenges, the grapple has been installed as a dangling grapple under a Cat MH3040 drop nose boom and stick material handler – the first of its kind worldwide.
The combined efforts of civil earthworks and infrastructure provider Morris Civil, Caterpillar dealer WesTrac and Caterpillar, the project has been described as a win-win by all stakeholders.
While providing a tailored solution for handling often challenging waste, the customisation is also a testament to what can be achieved through collaboration and a trusted partnership.
David Carrier, WesTrac Sales Representative in Sydney, says Morris Civil has been a long-time loyal customer, with both companies developing a strong relationship.
“We always try to look at the application they’re working on and come to a solution that suits them,” David says.
“In this case, this custom solution was perfect for this site, and it has been working flawlessly for the past 18 months. It’s a testament to having the right tool for the right application.”
Morris Civil provides a range of civil earthworks and infrastructure services throughout New South Wales, delivered either as a standalone scope or as part of a broader project.
The team has years of experience in landfill capping, removal and disposal of contaminated soil, waterway reconstruction and site regeneration and is the on-site partner of Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre in Ingleside.
Kimbriki prides itself as a centre of excellence for the promotion and practice of sustainable resource and waste management services. For the past eight years, Morris Civil has provided plant and operators to support Kimbriki’s landfill operations and recovery of resources from mixed waste.
They work together to recover recyclables such as mattresses, metal, timber, engineered timber and items for the Buyback Centre, before depositing the residual waste into fully engineered and lined landfill cells.
Currently about 50,000 tonnes of residual mixed waste is landfilled.
The Cat MH3040, described as the next generation of material handlers, is designed for waste transfer, landfill and scrap yard applications. Coupled with a demolition and sorting grapple, the MH3040 delivers precise control and powerful performance for construction and demolition recycling, scrap recycling and waste transfer stations.
However, in the tough environment of Kimbriki, the conventional rigid installation of the grapple resulted in damage to both the grapple and machine. Something Civil Morris was keen to avoid.
Jason Zhang, Work Tools Consultant for Caterpillar’s Global Construction and Infrastructure Team in the Asia Pacific, explains.
“A conventional rigid installation of a sorting grabble to a machine stick allows for easy and precise pick up of objects for sorting and loading,” he says.
“The disadvantage is there is no flexibility. Once you start grabbing bigger-sized and longer objects, such as downpipes and poles, they can hit the ground and apply twisting and bending forces that can damage the linkage of grapple, or linkage of the machine.
“In this instance, a dangling installation means the grapple can swing under the stick, so if bigger-size objects hit anything, the swing flexibility will not cause any damage.”
Jason says the Cat Global Construction and Infrastructure (GCI) team and work tools product group worked closely with Morris Civil and WesTrac to understand the problem and find a suitable solution.
John Morris, Founder and Director of Morris Civil, says the MH3040 with the G345 was the “perfect match for the job site”.
“We chose the MH3040 for this landfill because it suits our work well,” John says. “The G345 sorting grapple is very good for our construction waste sorting and loading because it handles bigger-sized objects. The operators love the machine and grapple for their powerful combination and fuel efficiency. They run smooth and are highly efficient for sorting and loading works.”
For Bassem Ibrahim, Industrial and Waste Consultant for Caterpillar’s GCI Team in the Asia Pacific, the efficiency of the machine is no surprise.
He says the MH3040 builds on the legacy of the M325DL material handler to provide power and reliability for tough material handling applications. It offers a new cab, reduced fuel consumption and lower maintenance costs.
“A more efficient engine, along with Eco, Smart and Power modes, helps operators match performance to the job and lower fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent,” he says. “Fewer maintenance points, paired with extended and more synchronised maintenance intervals increases uptime and thus reduces costs.”
Robert Agar is a Supervisor for Morris Civil. He says the machine is a good fit for the Kimbriki site. He adds that operators praise the cab for its access, ease of use and better visibility of surroundings.
“It’s very good for the work we do,” Robert says.
“It’s all Cat machinery here for a reason.”
That reason goes beyond the quality of the machines. Morris Civil and WesTrac have a working relationship that goes back two decades to when WesTrac started in New South Wales; back when David was in a product support role. When he moved into sales, the relationship continued and Morris Civil has purchased multiple machines over that time.
John says it’s vital to maintain a strong working relationship with a machinery dealer.
“Morris Civil has a long and dependable relationship with WesTrac NSW and we treat our relationship as a trustable, dependable, win-win partnership,” he says. “The service and maintenance and parts supply is always in a timely manner, cost-effective and efficient. They fix our problems so we can focus on our projects and business.
“Importantly, dealers like WesTrac have a strong team of mechanics and technicians that fully understand Cat machines and work tools. They know how to best serve and maintain this equipment.
“Every time they carry out maintenance and services, our technicians learn from their experience and professional knowledge, so we improve our skill and capacity as well.”
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